After flaming out of the Western Conference semifinals last year, the Houston Rockets made a blockbuster deal in the offseason by trading Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook in order to shuffle the puzzle pieces around once again to try and make the Finals. They returned the majority of their roster from last year, and added more depth at the center position with the addition of Tyson Chandler, and got healthier with Danuel House being back to 100 percent. 

With the West a little more open than years past, the Rockets look to be one of the handful of teams that could make the Finals heading into the 2019-20 season. There are legitimate concerns about how the fit between Russell Westbrook and James Harden will play out over the course of the season, and while they added a few more pieces in the offseason, they don’t have the greatest depth in the league. That depth just got thinner too, after reports indicate that Gerald Green may have a broken foot.

Originally thought to be a sprained left foot, as reported by Jonathan Feigen from The Houston Chronicle, it looks to be more serious than that, with further tests scheduled for Monday. The Rockets are hoping that Green can avoid surgery, however, nothing is certain about how much time he could potentially miss if it is, in fact, a broken foot. 

This is a sizeable blow for a Houston team that was already rather thin on wing players. Last season, Green appeared in 73 games for the Rockets and averaged 9.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 20 minutes a night. He established himself as a key role player for the Rockets and provides a spark off the bench for the team. While his numbers were down last year, he was still a valuable asset for Houston to have on the floor on a consistent basis. 

If Green does miss several months, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Rockets will likely turn to Ben McLemore and recently acquired Thabo Sefolosha to fill Green’s role until he returns.